The Reading Rush Readathon 2019 TBR (formerly BookTubeAThon)

The BookTubeAThon was a week long readathon that originated on YouTube in 2013, founded by two BookTubers Ariel and Raeleen. This year it's got a revamp and is known as The Reading Rush. The premise is still the same: a week of reading, 7 reading challenges to try complete, daily photo challenges on Instagram, video challenges on YouTube and fun things like book chats and reading sprints on Twitter. It runs this year from midnight 22nd July finishes midnight 29th July (though I used to just start it Monday morning and if I was still reading past midnight the Sunday night into Monday morning I counted it). It's a great way to challenge yourself and find other people online who are interested in the same things as you. 

I did the BookTubeAThon every year except last year. You can see my results for 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 by clicking through. Last year I just didn't feel very motivated by the challenges that were set and was going through a really bad reading slump. I wasn't sure if I'd do The Reading Rush this year but I liked the look of the challenges and I've since stated a bookish account on Instagram so thought it would be fun to join in there too. I took a picture for the Instagram account of my TBR pile for the challenges and decided I'll talk through the choices here.

I have picked 7 books, one that will suit every challenge but a lot of them work for more than one challenge and the likelihood of me reading 7 books in the week is slim with a full time job and the fact I'm going away for the weekend too! I'm going to write all the 7 challenges below and put the applicable books under them. The book at the bottom of the pile is my Kindle and I can pick books from there

1. Read a book with purple on the cover

-The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (it has the TINIEST amount of purple on the cover but it counts!)

-Another book from my Kindle, I'd have to look. I struggled a lot with this actually! I don't have many purple books

2. Read a book in the same spot the entire time (doesn't have to be all at once, as long as you read the book in the same location every time you read it)

-No One is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg

-Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

-Sweet Valley High: Academic All Star? by Katy Rex (on Kindle)

3. Read a book you meant to read last year

-Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

-A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard

4. Read an author's first book

-Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett (it was Gaiman's first book)

-I had put Convienience Store Woman in the pile partially because of this challenge but it's not the author's first book. It is the first one translated into English (I think) so I might possibly count it if I'm in a pinch

5. Read a book with a non-human main character

-Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann (this will also count as a book for Book Riot Read Harder so I'm delighted!)

6. Pick a book that has 5 or more words in the title

-Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

-The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie 

-No One is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg

7. Read and watch a book to movie adaptation

-Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

If I'm being honest, 30 minutes after choosing these books I changed my mind! 😆 Though I think that's the beauty with this, I can change my mind. You'll get to see what I actually picked to read and if it was any of these books!

Are you going to do The Reading Rush this year? Let me know below or come say hi on Instagram

BookTubeAThon 2017 Wrap Up

Hello! So the BookTubeAThon finished a few weeks ago, so it’s old news really but I’m only just getting the chance to write my wrap up post now and I always like documenting how I did with BookTubeAThon. I did a post before it started with the list of challenges and the books I was hoping to read which you can check out here.

 

Here’s a picture of all the books I read minus one book, which was an ebook.

Read a book with a person on the cover- Lumberjanes Volume 5

Read a book in one day- Juniper Lemon’s Happiness Index

Read a book outside- The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Volume 4

Read a book about a character completely different to you- HHhH

Read a book you bought because of the cover- The Sun is Also a Star

Read a hyped book- A Court of Thorns and Roses

Read seven books- Saga Volume 7

I also read Are You Watching Me? by Sinead Crowley.

There are some changes from what I wanted to read. I read more graphic novels than intended, this is because there was a bereavement and Are You Watching Me? was supposed to be my 7th book but I decided to read Saga Volume 7 instead so I could complete all the changes but I actually did manage to finish Are You Watching Me? after all.

Overall I’m happy with my results, I’m pleased I managed to get all the challenges done, especially the read a book outside challenge! I did that on the Monday when it was sunny, I sat on the balcony reading with a cup of buttermint tea. It’s a good thing I got that challenge done that day as the weather was shit the rest of the week. I also got two  more of my Book Riot Read Harder challenges completed too, which I’m super pleased with as I really need to get cracking on completing that!

2017 BookTubeAThon Challenges and TBR

It’s that time of year again! The BookTubeAThon! If you don’t know what that is, it’s a week long readathon, hosted by YouTuber Ariel Bissett and starts on 24th July. There’s various reading, vlogging and Instagram challenges and all sorts of other things to make this interesting. This will be the 5th year running and I’ve done it every year, with varying success. The 1st and 3rd year I was successful and completed every challenge and the 2nd and 4th year I wasn’t successful. So I’m hoping this year will continue the trend of good and bad year and I’ll be able to complete all the challenges.

Speaking of challenges, the video above outlines what the reading challenges are this year. Here they are:

1. Read a book with a person on the cover. It can be a full person, just a body part, a photo or a drawing.
2. Read a hyped book. Seeing as this is the BookTubeAThon, a book big on BookTube would probably be a good pick but it can be any hyped book.
3. Finish a book in one day
4. Read about a character that is very different to you
5. Finish a book completely outdoors. This can be done in chunks throughout the week but the book needs to be read outdoors.
6. Read a book you bought because of the cover
7. Read seven books. This has always been the 7th challenge since the first BookTubeAThon

If you want to double or triple up on challenges for one book, that’s perfectly fine. For example, if you find a hyped book that you bought because of the cover and it has a person on the cover, it can tick off all those challenges. I tend to stick to one book for each challenge though, I find it more challenging for me and also it means I’ll be able to get 7 books read.

BookTubeAThon 2017 TBR

The Color Purple- Book with person on the cover
A Court of Thorns and Roses- A hyped book
Dear Lupin- A book in one day
HHhH- A book with a character different to you
Lumberjanes Volume 5- Read a book outside
The Sun is Also a Star/Juniper Lemon’s Happiness Index- A book you bought because of the cover
Heartless- A book with a person on the cover/ a book in one day (back up)
Northern Lights- Seven books in seven days

I picked a nice mix of books, some of these tick off Book Riot Read Harder challenges which is partly why I’m reading them. Depending on my mood, I might not pick up my first choices for these and I might not pick up any of these! I’m going to try not to read too many graphic novels for this week though. I could easily read one for each challenge but there’s so many novels I want to read too that I’m only picking a graphic novel for the reading outside challenge. The less time outdoors, the better!

I'm looking forward to the Instagram challenges, I did a few last year and hopefully I'll be able to do more this year. I might participate in the Twitter sprints more as well.

The Autumn Reading Tag

I love watching BookTube videos and enjoy the odd tag video, they are fun and sometimes good for inspiration on what to read. One BookTuber (and author) I’ve mentioned here before is Jen Campbell. Her videos are always smart and well informed. I saw her do this Autumn Reading Tag the other day and decided to give it a go myself.

Autumn Reading Tag

1. Is there any books you plan on reading over the autumn season?



I try not to do specific TBRs for a month as I’ll never stick to it! But I do have a few books I’m looking forward to in the upcoming weeks. The first is Empire of Storms by Sarah J Maas, book 5 in the Throne of Glass series. The there’s The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch, book 6 in the Rivers of London series (which has had loads of different release dates and I didn’t think it would be out until next year but it is this November!). Then there’s Where Am I Now? by Mara Wilson, which came out 2 weeks ago. Finally there’s the latest No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency book called Precious and Grace by Alexander McCall Smith. I listed more books in my two 2016 Most Anticipated Reads post (part 1 and part 2) so hopefully I’ll pick those up too.


2. September brings back memories of school: what book did you most enjoy studying? And what was your favourite and least favourite subjects?



The two big texts I liked studing where Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier and As You Like It by William Shakespeare. When I read The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton is reminded me of Girl with a Pearl Earring, set around the same time in the Netherlands. As You Like It is a comedy and I appreciated that we were studying a lighter text during the Leaving Cert! As for my favourite subjects they were English and Home Economics. My least favourite was probably Irish, I love the language and I use Duolingo to try up my skills but the way it’s taught in schools is dire. Needs a big overhaul.


3. October means Halloween: do you enjoy scary books and films? If so what are some of your favourites?

I’m not a big horror fan in books or films. I don’t like zombie things, slasher flicks have never really done it for me either. It’s not because I find it too scary or anything, they just have never appealed. I do want to try some more horror books though, I have a post about All Hallow’s Read which I did a few years ago (I might do an update).



As for some of the scary books I have read and enjoyed these include The Shining by Stephen King (King is key for any horror books!), Coraline by Neil Gaiman (it’s for a younger audience but it’s still creepy) and Perfume by Patrick Suskind (its been a while since I read this but I do remember the creep factor being high!)


4. For November it’s time for bonfire night and firework displays. What’s the most exciting book you’ve read that’s really kept you gripped?



November does not mean bonfires and fireworks for me, thanks to my Irish upbringing. But November is the perfect time to huddle down with a page turner. The most recent could-not-put-down book I read was The Trespasser by Tana French (which I reviewed here). Though all of French’s books are thrilling! Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel was a great dystopian, set after a big epidemic hits the earth. It was a bit creepy at times too which fits in great with the above question. And this time last year I read Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith. I just remember listening to before work and wishing I had more time to read it!


5. What book is your favourite cosy comfort read?

I do enjoy YA books when I want some comfort reading, they are quick to read, easily relateable and usually feel good. Some of my favourites include Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, When We Collided by Emery Lord and One by Sarah Crossan. At the moment I’m reading the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger, they are great reads full of fun characters.


6. Curled up with a good book, what’s your hot drink of choice?

I don’t drink tea so I’d probably pick hot chocolate, as it’s easy to make at home. And easy to make a bit more decadent by adding marshmallows! I made this delicious gingerbread hot chocolate last year which I must try again. But if I’m out and about reading I’d probably pick a latte or mocha.


7. Any plans you’re looking forward to over next few months?

I have tickets to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child! So that’s the biggest thing for me. I’m also looking forward to Christmas, I begin to like Christmas more and more as I get older!

And that’s the tag! The creator of the tag is Amy Jane Smith and you can check out the video here. If you’re looking for more inspiration for autumn reading check out my old All Hallow’s Read post here and my friend Chloe from Nurse Fancy Pants also did a post with her autumn reads which you can check out here. If you want more cosy autumn goodness check out my Autumn Wishlist post. And if you do the post let me know so I can look at your picks.